Microsoft takes on the free world (Gates wants royalties on Linux)

LMAO, no they didn't

Yes they did. They threatened suits and then backed down, especially when they were threatened. Bullies are scared of those who stand up to them.

Since the leftist pukes running the FSF own the copyright on most Linux distro code

GNU software is a relatively small portion of a distro. The kernel plus OpenOffice, Firefox, Konqueror, X Windows, and Thunderbird alone is probably far more code than all the GNU tools. The biggest GNU pieces of software are Gnome and GIMP, and the former isn't even in all distros (KDE is often preferred).

Microsoft has been ordered to pay a couple billion the last year or so for patent suits, wonder how well Stallman and his cronies can handle a hit like that?

I wonder how Microsoft can handle the retaliatory hit from Sun and IBM, plus the open patent initiative.

I'm keeping the thread on topic despite your endless attempts to divert it off into unrelated rechnical minutia. The topic is do you support intellectual property protections on US technology

You said Mac is better than Linux because Apple is a "US company." I simply showed you how OS X is comprised of a lot of free software (most under an even more permissive license than the GPL, some under the GPL like the core of its browser), so your comparison sucks.

The topic is do you support intellectual property protections on US technology

I support the constitutionally-mandated rights of authors. We do not have the right to criticize the choice of an author to make his software free or proprietary, as that is his constitutional right. Your disagreement with this principle shows you do not really support "IP" rights.

You and Stallman are yet again in agreement on a subject, thinking you have the right to criticize that exercise of a right.

You clearly want US software given away, including to communist countries

You can't stand on the fence anymore. Is Linux a "foreign clone" or US software that is given away? You also cannot criticize Linux without also criticizing BSD, Firefox and other free software.

Hysterical, even N3WBI3 got it right above, go tell him he’s wrong.

Got what right? That you're capable of writing an OS even though you do not know the basics of OS architecture?

Sun and IBM have cross licensing agreements too.

Sun and IBM would be on the same side of this battle against Microsoft. Sun and Microsoft have a patent agreement, but for now it only covers patents in dispute before that agreement. They may in the future have a complete cross-licensing agreement. That they do not have a complete patent agreement yet is obvious since Microsoft claims infringements by Sun's OpenOffice.

You said Mac is better than Linux because Apple is a "US company."

I said that was one of the reasons, which is true from my perspective as a US citizen. Your allegiance obviously lies elsewhere, with free software for the world, and then pointed out Apple used some free software but then admitted you actually think that portion is crap LOL.

I support the constitutionally-mandated rights of authors.

Yeah yeah we know, especially those that want to give technology developed in the US away for free to US adversaries. You should have rode shotgun on Stallman's latest trip to Cuba.

Is Linux a "foreign clone" or US software that is given away?

Obviously both. It is a clone of Unix developed by the son of noted communists in eastern Europe who admits he created it because he didn't want to pay for Unix from the US. Now some US companies have basically taken over Linux development and are porting Unix technology overto Linux sometimes using even the same tainted programmers, then giving that technology away for free including to US adversaries.

Bottom line advanced technology built in the US and previously restricted by export control is going line by line to foreign governments for free. Thankfully US patents may finally now regain control, your hissy fits about it will have no effect and simply show where your allegiances lie.

they do not have a complete patent agreement yet is obvious since Microsoft claims infringements by Sun's OpenOffice.

Sun doesn't own Open Office, you are blabbering more pathetically with each post. There is clearly a cross license patent agreement in place between Sun and Microsoft, so Microsoft will not be suing Sun or vice versa. Open Office owns no patents and therefore doesn't cross license anything, so they could be a target. Such basic things leave you not only bewildered but constantly making incorrect statements. Anything but deal with the concern of how Stallman and his leftist gang at FSF would deal with a patent suit, which is to say not very well LOL. Their top lawyer recently announced he was leaving, guess he wasn't as commited as most of those moonbats LOL.

Sun doesn't own Open Office,...

From OpenOffice.org:

StarDivision, the original author of the StarOffice suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, have been built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation. Sun continues to sponsor development on OpenOffice.org and is the primary contributor of code to OpenOffice.org. CollabNet hosts the website infrastructure for development of the product and helps manage the project.

So, while Sun may not actually own OpenOffice, it's own product, StarOffice, use the same code and technology as OpenOffice, opening them up to any patent lawsuits by MS.

So, while Sun may not actually own OpenOffice, it's own product, StarOffice, use the same code and technology as OpenOffice, opening them up to any patent lawsuits by MS.

Partially correct, at least maybe antiRepublican will realize Sun doesn't own OpenOffice, so thanks for that. As you also said Sun's product is Star Office, not Open Office, what you got wrong is that Microsoft might sue Sun, which they obviously won't since they have a cross license agreement.

Sun doesn't own Open Office, you are blabbering more pathetically with each post.

Sun has owned StarOffice since 1999 when they bought it from a German company ("American technology!", oh, wait). Sun open-sourced StarOffice in 2000, calling it OpenOffice. I guess you've never run OpenOffice or you'd have seen the Sun logo there.

You are yet again the one blabbering pathetically out of ignorance.

There is clearly a cross license patent agreement in place between Sun and Microsoft, so Microsoft will not be suing Sun or vice versa.

So why did Microsoft claim 45 patent infringements specifically by OpenOffice? You can't claim infringement if you have an all-encompassing cross-licensing agreement.

Their top lawyer recently announced he was leaving, guess he wasn't as commited as most of those moonbats LOL.

How disingenuous and ignorant of you, but that's expected. He's done with the planning, now he's moving to active legal representation of open source projects as the chairman of the Software Freedom Law Center. He'd probably be on the front lines of the battle if Microsoft sued.

I'd like some retractions for all of the above, but I don't expect to receive them, as that would require honesty from you.

Sun has owned StarOffice since 1999...So why did Microsoft claim 45 patent infringements specifically by OpenOffice? You can't claim infringement if you have an all-encompassing cross-licensing agreement.

Obviously because StarOffice is owned by Sun, not OpenOffice. Only a decietful moonbat would keep trying to confuse the 2, even Shadow came clean on that already.

How disingenuous and ignorant of you

LOL no the facts are the Free Software Foundation's chief lawyer just announced he is resigning, as I said. Not only are you a sellout you're an obvious liar to deny it.

then pointed out Apple used some free software but then admitted you actually think that portion is crap

You said Torvalds said all of OS X was crap. I corrected you, that it was only the kernel he said was crap (BTW, you're welcome for that lesson). I never said it was crap. I prefer microkernels to monolithic kernels, even with the performance hit. I was one of those people who were not happy that Microsoft moved the video into the kernel.

Yeah yeah we know, especially those that want to give technology developed in the US away for free to US adversaries.

Not "especially...." It's blanket -- anyone. To show you my preference, my applications are proprietary, not open source. So quit claiming my preference is otherwise. I need to start documenting your lies on this thread again.

I see you try to avoid the fact that you do not support the "IP" rights of authors. Very nice, but ineffective

Obviously both.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Bottom line advanced technology built in the US and previously restricted by export control is going line by line to foreign governments for free.

And yet you completely ignore the advanced technology built in foreign countries that is going line by line to the US.

Your security ravings are complete BS anyway. China has the resources to create their own complete UNIX variant just using publicly available documentation. If a kid and a bunch of volunteers can take Linux as far as they did before big business got involved, then China can definitely do it.

Careful, you're degenerating into personal attacks and incoherent paranoid rants again.

Your security ravings are complete BS anyway. China has the resources to create their own complete UNIX variant

More perfect proof of your leftist philosophy. "China could eventually build it on their own so we should just give it to them for free.

you completely ignore the advanced technology built in foreign countries that is going line by line to the US

LMAO like we needed their cheap knock offs of our already existing and superior Unix and Office products. You should change your handle to antiUS.

Obviously because StarOffice is owned by Sun, not OpenOffice.

Okay, now what part of "Sun open-sourced StarOffice in 2000" do you not understand? If you open source something, you still own it. True, some portions of OpenOffice belong to other contributors, but Sun contributed the initial code and the vast majority of the code since then.

So run OpenOffice and look for the Sun logo on the splash screen. Or are you afraid your eyes will burn if you look at open source software? Okay then:

Wow, look at that, a Sun logo on a product that Sun supposedly doesn't own. A patent suit against OpenOffice is a patent suit against StarOffice, since StarOffice is OpenOffice plus proprietary additions. Microsoft claimed 45 infringements in OpenOffice, and thus 45 infringements by Sun.

You must have forgotten the part about the Sun/Microsoft cross-license agreement being for previously-contended patents, and not covering all of them.

LOL no the facts are the Free Software Foundation's chief lawyer just announced he is resigning

So that he could continue his work in support of open source in a more effective way, actively defending open source projects from lawsuits. Your implication that he wasn't committed was disingenuous at best, blatant lie at worst.

Microsoft's patent agreement with Sun doesn't extend to Open Office any more than their agreement with Novell extends to Open Suse which it does not.

Care to revise this statement?

From Microsoft's own web site:

Q: From the customer’s perspective, what is covered in openSUSE?
The patent agreement covers everything from openSUSE.org that is included in past and current Novell supported versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. It also covers future versions (for 5 years) of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, with recognition of the fact that development changes may occur that fall outside the terms of this agreement. While some future scenarios may not be included, we have established a working relationship and structure to have conversations about those issues as they arise.

It seems that it does indeed cover OpenSUSE.

"China could eventually build it on their own so we should just give it to them for free.

Who is this "we"? Am I contributing code to Linux? Nope. Are you? There's no way you have the talent, so that's a moot question.

"We" is individual authors who decide what to do with their copyrighted works. The idea that giving it away for free is somehow beyond their rights has already been shot down. Inventors here have been giving their technology away for free since Benjamin Franklin (who never patented one of his inventions). In fact, Franklin giving away his technology enabled us to win independence from Great Britain. Would you prefer he hadn't given it away?

LMAO like we needed their cheap knock offs of our already existing and superior Unix and Office products.

Yeah, cheap knock-offs. Everything is invented here. Nobody else in the world could possibly have the intelligence to invent anything useful or write good software. Retard.

We really shouldn't be leaching off an Englishman's idea of a programmable computer right now, and do we also disown the father of modern computer science? We also have to stop using a German's formalization of the binary system and another Brit's system of computational logic. Hell, one of our greatest computer science geniuses was a Hungarian who fled the Nazis.

Microsoft's patent agreement with Sun doesn't extend to Open Office

Correct, for a change. That's what I've been trying to tell you. And it also doesn't extend to any involvement of Sun with OpenOffice. It explicitly allows Microsoft to seek damages from Sun over OpenOffice. The Sun CEO had this to say on the subject:

To the Open Office Community:
Please do not listen to the bizarro numbskull anti-Sun conspiracy theorists. They were lunatics then, they are lunatics now, they will always be lunatics. We love the open source community, we spawned from it. We'll protect that community, that innovation, and our place in it, with all our heart and energy. [my emphasis]
Just think, next to J2ME, OpenOffice is the single highest volume product we've ever delivered. In the history of our company. You know my views on volume. Dorking that up is not in our strategic plan.
OpenOffice matters. Moreso every day.

Microsoft attacking OpenOffice will bring consequences from Sun. The CEO has pledged to protect OpenOffice.

any more than their agreement with Novell extends to Open Suse which it does not.

Your lies are almost becoming entertaining.

It seems that it does indeed cover OpenSUSE.

No it doesn't, if you look carefully that's just some clever wording by Microsoft that they protect what is quote "included" in Novell's actual products. According to open source mouthpiece Slashdot, OpenSuse is even pulling out features that may be infrining on Microsoft's patents:

openSUSE Hobbled By Microsoft Patents

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